How good marketing can help attract tourist to Jos, Nigeria

One cannot forget the beautiful scenery ,naturist view and landscape with such a great chilly weather for a touristic place perfect for both locals and foreigners.Plateau state (Jos city) , 'A home of peace and tourism. Tourism is a source of income and generates employment to the local communities, but Jos has had/is having series of problems  attracting tourist to the city which is noted for its violence, communal clashes, and religious crises. Unsafe roads and streets, thereby people avoided coming to the city due to the fear of been robbed in the streets. With my recent studies in marketing, good marketing can help overcome such problems by

  

Advertise: Advertise through radios, television, magazines, posters, newspapers, brochures and the most recent is the internet where people would online first to look for vacation spots or centers.

Market segmentation: dividing the market into groups of like-minded people with similar needs, and behavioral characteristics and who therefore require similar tourism marketing mixes. As Jos tourism markets are been segmented finely, the greater the likelihood that the destination or attraction will be able to implement targeted marketing campaigns to usable, distinct groups of visitors rather than randomly marketing to the market generally.

Marketing mix on products/services- by defining and communicating the distinguishing characteristics of the product or services to consumers is the key to successful marketing which can help Jos overcome their problems. When standard products, additions, special complementary products/service are been defined, attributes (such as transport, rooms) and benefits (relaxing, learning and exploration) is an important part of the marketing process.


Encourage internal tourism- by providing competitive prices to the locals which you believe that they can afford such prices, resulting to a steady inflow of locals unlike that of the outsiders visits tourism centers during peak seasons.

Preserve the existing attractions and create new ones- by preserving old buildings, and creating new attractions such as amusement parks, hotels, bars and many others.

Improve on accommodation and health services in order to attract the tourists- by providing Medical facilities or encourage doctors to invest in facilities for medical tourism. This will also benefit local people.

Train tour guides and hotel workers for easy communication and good service- it can be necessary to have tour guides who speaks more than one language which can help foreign tourist

Improve on transport facilities by purchasing modern tour vehicles and modernize roads to tourist attraction - improving on the airports or boundaries which are seen as the entrance to Jos. Provision of modern tour vehicles and good road network would help attract more people into the city.

Organize package tours and improve on security in order to promote peace hence tourist attraction-  This is very important and we should make sure our press/newspapers take note on reporting about news that will destroy our country’s/city’s image since bad publicity is easily picked up by the foreign press.

Buy locally made products- By ensuring to provide opportunities that allow tourist to shop for souvenirs and gifts with local suppliers, helping to identify authentic and high-quality goods. While negotiating is commonplace, and can also be quite fun, to the residents of Jos, it is important for them to sell their products which is a source of livelihood to them. Expecting a higher price than you should pay is what the tourist needs to understand about, but forcing them to lower the price to less than you would be willing to pay may provide a minimal benefit.

Good and adequate security – There is a need of security to be improved in Jos in other for the people or tourist to have a safe welcoming visit to the city. A safe environment with little or no crime would bring more attraction to the city.

Publicize the country – Building up attractive and interesting website as well as providing exhibition would attract tourist to the country.